Ron's Choice
by MondoMage
Summary: Ron faces a fateful decision. Sorry, best summary I can think up for it.


A flash of light. Fire and smoke. The concussion of an explosion. Shrieking metal and the crackling roar of shorting electrical doo-dads.  
  
Unexpected weightlessness, then the unmistakable feeling of falling. Someone nearby is screaming in terror. I sure hope that it's not me this time.  
  
My left wrist is suddenly seized in a vice-like grip. My arm comes to a sudden stop, and a moment later my body decides to do the same, but not before my shoulder is wrenched so hard that I'm surprised my arm is still attached. As it is, the pain is bad enough that my vision fills with dancing spots of light. Sort of pretty, actually.  
  
Another shriek rings out below me and I look down. Below me is a large, black void. Ah, yes, Dr. Drakken's so-called "Bottomless Pit of Shrieking Death." The way he's hollering on the way down proves that he got at least part of the name right. I still have doubts about the bottomless part, though.  
  
"RON!" a voice screams from above me. I turn and blink against the blinding spots. A familiar, if blurry, face floats in front of me.  
  
"Kim!" I shout back. It only takes a moment for me to assess the situation. Kim, dangling at the end of a length of electrical cable, left hand grasping said cable, right hand holding my wrist tightly. Me, dangling at the end of Kim's hand. Below, shrieking death. Above, the burning remains of Drakken's latest hidden lair.  
  
The day is just getting better and better.  
  
Rufus pokes his head out of the cargo pocket in my pants, looks down into the pit, then disappears back into the pocket with a yelp.  
  
I can't help but agree with the reaction. Unfortunately, I lack a large enough pocket to hide inside of. I have to settle for dangling at the end of a friendly hand. Speaking of which...  
  
"Ron, hang on!" Kim yells down to me.  
  
I blink at her. "Yeah, you got it, KP!" Like I can do anything else? Well, aside from reach up and grab hold with my other hand, of course. Which I promptly do. The throbbing in my shoulder lets up a bit. Not much, but I'll take whatever I can get right now.  
  
A quick look around reveals that the walls of Drakken's hole in the ground are perfectly smooth. No hand holds whatsoever. So much for climbing out that way. I look back up, quickly surveying the route I'd have to take to climb out. Up and over Kim, then up what looks to be maybe fifty feet of electrical cable.  
  
As usual, she's one step ahead of me. "Ron, I can't pull you up! You'll have to climb!"  
  
Well, duh. Like I couldn't figure that one out on my own. Still, it's nice of her to point it out. "Sure thing, KP!" Of course, this is coming from a guy who couldn't make it to the top of the rope in gym class, even with a pair of Wade's rocket shoes. Looking back down towards the pit, I take a moment to listen to Drakken's fading shriek. Boy, I never realized what a set of lungs the guy had. Maybe he'd have been better at opera than he was at villainy.  
  
Far below, Drakken's shriek ends quite abruptly. So much for bottomless.  
  
Still, there's nothing like impending death to motivate a guy, and I'm no exception to that rule. "Ready?" I ask her, steeling myself for the climb. She nods back at me, face twisted in concentration. I mutter a short prayer and pull myself up.  
  
Well, almost. My left shoulder explodes in a blaze of fiery pain. It's so intense that I lose my grip on Kim's hand and fall back down. Fortunately, she still has hold of me. Unfortunately, the sudden stop brings about an even worse barrage of agony. I hear myself cry out in pain.  
  
"Ron! Ron! Are you okay!?"  
  
I look up at her, blinking back the tears that have filled my eyes. "I-I don't th-think so, KP." I gasp, voice shaking more from pain than fear. "It's my sh-shoulder. I c-c-can't climb." I choke back a sob. "I'm s-sorry."  
  
Her expression shifts. Annoyance. Comprehension. A brief flash of regret. Determination. Ah, yes. I can read her face like a book. Comes in handy from time to time. I can see the wheels beginning to turn as she calculates and formulates and all those other things that she does so well. Give her a minute or so and she'll have a plan to get us both out of here.  
  
Her hand - the one holding the cable - slips. We both lurch downward. She regains her hold, but not before there's nothing but about a foot of cable left. I catch the look in her eye. Sometimes I wish I couldn't read her so well. Her eyes say it all.  
  
I don't particularly like what they're saying, but they are nice to look at. I've been noticing more and more how beautiful her eyes are. And the rest of her too, of course. But I could simply sit and stare into her eyes all day and not mind at all. Kim, however, probably would mind. Long gazings into her emerald orbs are experiences she'd rather share with the likes of Mankey, or Brick, or... well... anyone other than me.  
  
Oh well. It's my lot in life, I guess. At least I get to spend more time with her than all those other guys could ever dream of. At least I have that.  
  
She slips a bit further, and suddenly it hits me that we both may have a lot less time on our hands than we thought. Definitely I can see the rising panic in her eyes. She's run through all the scenarios, I guess, and not come up with an acceptable answer. Pity, that. It's going to ruin a most excellent record.  
  
Suddenly, unexpectedly, I hear the voice of Master Sensei, the wise old dude that taught me a few things in Japan. "There will come a time when you will have to take the unwanted path in order to protect the ones you love," he says. I'm not quite sure what that means. Big surprise.  
  
I can almost hear him sigh. It's kind of creepy, actually. "Look down," he adds.  
  
Never one to argue with mysterious voices, I do as he asks. Nothing down there but Drakken's Not-Quite-Bottomless Pit of Shrieking....   
  
Oh.  
  
I never really believed all that "life flashing before your eyes" stuff. Heck, my life story would be rather boring, and I wouldn't want to relive it in the first place.  
  
But, strangely enough, time does seem to slow down a lot. I look back up at Kim, moving in what looks to be slow motion, trying with all her might to pull us both to safety, struggling to save the three of us. And it hits me right then - not only can Kim not save me, but she's not going to be able to save herself with only one hand hanging onto that cable.  
  
Unwanted path, indeed. Sensei, it will be my honor to tell you exactly what I think of your unwanted path.  
  
Knowing what I now know, it's a simple matter to realize what needs to be done. What needs to happen in order for the greatest number of us to survive Drakken's little surprise (Hey, Doctor Drakken? You surprised?). She's not going to like it. Heck, _I_ don't like it. But, well....   
  
It sucks, to be honest.  
  
I look into Kim's eyes. Those beautiful, emerald eyes. Suddenly there's so much that I want to tell her. So much that I want to say. So much that I need to say.  
  
Instead, I settle for three words.  
  
"Kim, let me go."  
  
She looks at me, disbelief crossing her features. I can tell that she can't believe what she just heard. Heck, I can't believe I said it. Still, what needs to be done needs to be done, so I say it again.  
  
She begins shaking her head. "No! NO! I won't let you fall."  
  
"You think I want to?" I counter. "But if you don't let go, we'll both fall."  
  
"NO! I won't let you. I'll come up with something."  
  
A strange sense of calm settles over me. I know what I'm doing is right. It's what needs done, whatever the consequences. "Kimberly, please."  
  
She looks at me in shock. "Ron, no."  
  
"I won't let you die for me." God, this is starting to sound like one of those sappy romance movies that Kim claims to hate but watches anyway.  
  
Her eyes flare up. Ah, the stubborness of her inherent Kimmicity has finally reared it's head. "I'm not going to let you die, Ron. You're my partner. I won't allow it." Her grip slips another inch, and she can't keep a small "EEP!" from escaping her lips.  
  
I smile at her, holding her gaze in my own. "Rufus." I say softly, and I can feel him clamber up my leg and back.  
  
He latches onto my neck. "Don't wanna go." he squeaks softly. Always quick on the uptake, my little buddy is.  
  
"You have to, Rufus." I tilt my head slightly, rubbing against him. "You have to take care of Kim for me."  
  
Rufus sniffs loudly into my ear. "Love you," he sobs.  
  
"Love you too, buddy." I say, fighting back a sob of my own. "Go on, get up there."  
  
Rufus scrambles up my arm, and onto Kim's. In a flash, he begins climbing the cable. He's fast, but it's a long way to go.  
  
God, I hope he can come up with something. But my luck has never been that good. No reason to believe it would change now. I take a deep breath as I look into the void below.  
  
"Ron," Kim's voice has taken on a pleading note. It's not nice to hear, not from her. "Don't do this. It doesn't have to be like this."  
  
I fix her with a calm stare. "Grapple gun?"  
  
"What? I mean, well, I dropped it when Shego jumped me."  
  
"Jet backpack?"  
  
Her eyes start to glisten. God, I hate doing this to her. "I didn't bring it this time."  
  
"Parachute dress?"  
  
She chokes back a sob. I _REALLY_ hate this. "Does it l-look like I'm wearing a d-dress?"  
  
I shake my head slowly. "Kimmunicator?"  
  
"Down there with Drakken." Tears are pouring out of her eyes now.  
  
I slowly reach up, biting my tongue to keep from shouting in pain. I place my right hand over hers. She's trembling. Oh God. "Kim, you have to let me go. Now."  
  
She started shaking her head. "No! No, I won't! I won't let you go! I won't!"  
  
I reach my hand around hers, seeking out the proper pressure point. Have to get it right - hit the wrong one, and her hand will be paralyzed for hours, and she'll fall as well. The right one will only make her hand spasm for a moment, enough to release me. Enough to let me go.  
  
To let me fall.  
  
God, how can I be so calm about this?  
  
Because of her, I realize. Because I'm doing it to save her. Because she'll die if I don't. And I'll do anything to save her.   
  
Even die.  
  
She slips a little bit more. Only inches left.  
  
I'm out of time.  
  
So much to say, so much that should have been said, so much, so much.  
  
I find the tiny bundle of nerves that my fingers are hunting for. Place my fingers _just so._  
  
She realizes too late what I'm about to do. "RON! DON'T YOU DARE! DON'T YOU LEAVE ME! DON'T Y-"  
  
A gentle squeeze is all it takes.  
  
Her hand involuntarily flexes. The fingers open. My wrist is free. Gravity takes over. If only I was a bird or something. Right about now, I'd settle for a lot.  
  
Time slows to a crawl as I begin to fall. Her eyes begin widening in shock and terror. Her mouth opens in a wordless scream. Her free hand stretches back towards me, even as I fall out of reach.  
  
Wouldn't you know it, but my life _does_ flash before my eyes. It's no surprise that Kim is there, in all of the memories of my life that mean anything, in all of the things that ever happened to me that are worth remembering at all. Nothing worthwhile ever happened to me that Kim wasn't in some way, shape, or form involved with.  
  
God, I'm gonna miss her. And Rufus. And mom, dad, Mr. and Mrs P., Jim, Tim, Monique, and a whole bunch of other people whose names aren't coming to me at the moment. But mostly, I'll miss one Kimberly Anne Possible.  
  
She's shouting now, the words distorted and drawn out, like something out of one of those really really bad cartoons. Still, I can make out exactly what she's saying. Never knew that she could string together such an long and interesting sentence with those sorts of words. 

Above her, Rufus sides back down the cable, somehow managing to do so while holding her grapple gun. 

I ever tell you how amazing Rufus can be? 

Kim takes a moment to readjust her grip. Good. At least she's not gonna fall. She takes the grapple gun from Rufus and aims it my way. The gun fires with a flash, the grappling hook streaking towards me. 

Lord, I love that girl. 

Another one of those freeze-frame moments hits me. I love her. I really, _REALLY_ love her. A satisfying warmth fills me, kind of tingly and fuzzy and... well... ever read how those romance novels describe it? That's what it feels like. Not that I've ever read one of them, but if I had, I'm pretty sure that that's how they'd describe it. 

Looking up at her, watching her pull a miracle out of her as... bag of tricks. Yes, bag of tricks. Not that her... isn't nice in and of itself. But bag of tricks sounds better.

Anyways, watching her perform the magic that only she can do so well, I can't help but feel blessed that I am able to share the spotlight with such a wonderful girl. And that, above all else, I am her longest, closest, dearest friend. We hardly go anywhere without one another. She was willing to leap into a bottomless pit to save me. And I'm willing to plummet to a sudden and violent end in order to save her.

If that's not the signs of something more, something deeper, than I don't know what is.

The grappling hook races towards me, and I reach out for it. Thank you, God. Thank you, Kim. I stretch out my hands, reaching for the hook, waiting for the beautiful salvation that awaits at the end of that retractable line.

The hook is six inches from my fingertips when the line pulls taught and springs backwards.

Damn. Damn, damn, damn, _DAMN!_

I look back at Kim, only now realizing how far away she is. No wonder the hook didn't reach.

Kim's screaming my name. Man, I really wish that the grappling hook had reached. I sure hope she's not too hard on herself over it. What am I saying? Of course she will be.

Wind whistling in my ears, hair blowing everywhere, knowing that any moment now I'll be joining Drakken at the bottom of his rather poorly-thought-out pit, I realize that there's one last thing I need to do.

Strange. Everything's starting to glow a strange reddish-orange. Weird, yet familiar. Where have I seen that particular shade of glowing energy before?

Oh, yeah, right, one last thing to do. Almost screwed that up, too.

I take a deep breath. Gonna have to scream loud for her to hear, now.

"KIM! I LO-"

*--*--*--*

Author's Notes : Hey, all! Sorry, but this particular demon wouldn't get out of my head until I properly exorcized it. So I wrote it down, and here's the result. The idea for this came partially from the numerous "Ron Offs Himself" fics that have been cropping up lately. Not that I disagree with them, because there are many that I really really like. This is simply my way of wondering what it might take for Ron to give his life for Kim, instead of take it because of her.

As it stands, I conceived this as a one-shot deal. Someone has pointed out that it may work with a second chapter relating Kim's POV of the whole thing, which is an intriguing idea. And I might choose to continue it past that as well. Hopefully you picked up on the little hint I dropped in there. It's not a guarantee, but I decided to leave myself an out in case I do decide to continue it.

Well, enough blabbering from me. I'm back to plugging away at "Future Imperfect." Later!


End file.
